Every 10 years, the U.S. conducts a census of the population by sending a form in the mail to every household in the country. Census data are used by the government in a variety of important decisions, including allocation of more than $440 billion in federal funds each year.

Many communities that are served by nonprofits are at risk of being undercounted in the Census, resulting in less funding and resources being allocated to those communities. Lower income and more mobile populations, precisely those served by many nonprofits, are frequently undercounted by the census, leading to underfunding of critical services and infrastructure and under-representation in government. Groups with the highest risk of being undercounted are Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, low-income people, and the homeless.

Nonprofits can play an important role in making sure their communities are fully and accurately counted by educating them on the importance of the census and how to participate. For resources and materials on how to get started, go to www.nonprofitscount.org.